19th December 2025
Written by Caroline Lievesley
Personal Development practitioner Verity Cook evolves her approach to achieve the best outcomes, helping athlete Lucy to build confidence and structure.
Q: Could you share a personal development story that stands out?
Verity: One of the athletes I worked with was Lucy. She was, and still is, very talented in 10m Air Pistol shooting and her sporting journey had progressed quickly. She joined Swansea just before her 18th birthday. She was home educated and hadn’t been to a formal school setting so she lacked some experience in structured environments.
Q: Did Lucy attend Swansea as a student as well?
Verity: No, she came purely as a delivery site athlete. She commuted about an hour and a half twice a week for training and met with me every other week for personal development.
Q: How did you approach working with Lucy initially?
Verity: At first, it was all about building rapport. Lucy lacked confidence in social situations, so we practiced small talk and interactions through one-to-one role play. Then we explored education and career options without forcing her into traditional paths.
Q: What were the main challenges?
Verity: Lucy struggled with procrastination which for her was about managing her time. Her schedule was very flexible and so she often postponed tasks. We worked through a book called “I want to stop procrastinating now” to help her navigate this.
Q: How did career planning fit in?
Verity: Lucy initially explored different ideas—cryptocurrency, a cross-stitch business—but nothing stuck at first. Eventually, she settled on cybersecurity, which combined her hobbies, like gaming and IT, with a flexible career path that would fit around her sport.
Q: What did Lucy explore as part of her personal development?
Verity: Part of Lucy’s development was to work with a clinical psychologist alongside a sports psychologist. As all brains develop uniquely it was a useful exercise to help Lucy understand more about herself.
Q: How did this translate into sporting progression?
Verity: Over time, exposure to people and experiences at Swansea, along with the development of her shooting career, gave Lucy the confidence to compete internationally including going to a Junior World Championship in Peru.
Q: What strategies did you use to support her development?
Verity: We tailored everything individually. We used worksheets, side-by-side exercises, role play, communication tasks, and creative activities like drawing to explore perspectives. Some resources came from my experience, some from trial and error, and some from podcasts.
Q: Was there a moment you noticed significant progress?
Verity: About a year in, Lucy started entering the office and chatting comfortably with staff. That was a huge milestone—it showed her growth in confidence and social skills.
Q: How has working with Lucy influenced your approach?
Verity: It made me more creative and flexible. Every individual is different, and sometimes traditional methods aren’t enough. You have to think outside the box to help someone thrive.
Q: Any final thoughts on Lucy?
Verity: Lucy was incredibly engaging and kept me on my toes as a practitioner. Seeing her develop personally and in her sport was extremely rewarding.
We’re thrilled that Lucy has here explained how personal development support has helped her.
Q. Before you started receiving support at Swansea, did you have any ideas of how personal development support could help you?
Lucy: I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was looking forward to exploring any ideas that might come out of working with TASS, especially in regards to psychology and P&L coaching.
Q. Could you explain the areas where support from Verity has had an impact on your life?
Lucy: Verity helped me with procrastination, especially when we worked through the previously mentioned book, along with offering different viewpoints so that I could see any blind spots I had in regards to it.
Q. Could you pinpoint any new skills or ways of approaching situations that you have developed throughout your work with Verity?
Lucy: Aside from the different ways of working through procrastination, she’s helped me with confidence in general, especially with talking to people.
Verity Cook is a Senior Athlete Support Officer at Swansea University. Personal Development is a key part of her role.
